Old Fears Recalled

      More Letters From Paradise
         Old Fears Recalled
The front page story in our local paper, "The Hunt For K-129", set my thoughts racing.  The writer, William Cole, tells how 40 years ago the CIA had a plan to raise a sunken Soviet submarine under the Soviets' noses. The complete story can be found in the book, "Project Azorian: The  CIA and the Raising of the K-129" by Norman Polmar and Michael White.

Briefly told, the Soviet submarine K-129 sank 1,800 miles northwest of Hawaii in March 1968.  The cause of the sinking is unknown.  The submarine carried a crew of 98, two nuclear-tipped torpedoes and three intercontinental ballistic missiles.  Each of the three missiles had l-megaton warheads with 65 times the destructive power of those used on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.  The intended targets were Pearl Harbor, Hickam Field and Camp Smith, in case of war.

The story continues to tell how the CIA interested Howard Hughes to became involved.
The billionaire Hughes was always interested in projects, such as designing a bra for Jane Russell, in the movie "The Outlaw." He also built the "Spruce Goose," created TWA Airlines, and held many flying records. Just to name a few of his many interests.


Hughes had built a ship named the" Glomar Explorer," which would raise the sunken sub. The ship had an open center like a swimming pool without a bottom.  Giant steel claws would pick up the submarine.  Soviet ships nearby were told that they were only mining minerals on the ocean floor. They fell for the ruse, but one of the claws failed and sent most of the sub to the ocean floor. Recovery items consisted of six sailors, two crushed nuclear torpedoes, and some documents. When the ship anchored off Maui, the front page story reported that they had been exploring mining the ocean bottom.

The U.S. interest in Russian subs was not new to me.  Long before the event written above, I was serving aboard the USS Tarawa, a WWII aircraft carrier, our interest was in Soviet submarines.  Our ship was paired with the USS Wasp, also an Essex WWII aircraft carrier.  Each ship in turn would leave our port, Quonset Point, R.I., and spend the next 30 days at sea. We cruised 300 miles offshore, from Halifax, Nova Scotia, to Mayport, Florida.  Back and forth, launching  twin-engine sub hunter aircraft.  Sonar Buoys would be dropped, fins would open, slowing the descent to the water. When in the water, a paper tape holding down a spring loaded antenna would break,  causing the antenna to stand upright.  A microphone would descend into the ocean depth.  Now, a pilot flying above, could tell the direction the sub was taking.  And then, drop a depth charge.

One time we had just returned from 30 days at sea, and we were tied to the pier, across from the USS Wasp, when it happened. A fire had broken out on their hangar deck, many were injured, and  we watched as black body bags were carried off the ship.

As a result of this accident, we who had just finished 30 days at sea, were ordered back out to sea. Helping to keep America safe.

      Aloha
      Grant